Documentation / git.txton commit Sync with 2.4.10 (11a458b)
   1git(1)
   2======
   3
   4NAME
   5----
   6git - the stupid content tracker
   7
   8
   9SYNOPSIS
  10--------
  11[verse]
  12'git' [--version] [--help] [-C <path>] [-c <name>=<value>]
  13    [--exec-path[=<path>]] [--html-path] [--man-path] [--info-path]
  14    [-p|--paginate|--no-pager] [--no-replace-objects] [--bare]
  15    [--git-dir=<path>] [--work-tree=<path>] [--namespace=<name>]
  16    <command> [<args>]
  17
  18DESCRIPTION
  19-----------
  20Git is a fast, scalable, distributed revision control system with an
  21unusually rich command set that provides both high-level operations
  22and full access to internals.
  23
  24See linkgit:gittutorial[7] to get started, then see
  25linkgit:giteveryday[7] for a useful minimum set of
  26commands.  The link:user-manual.html[Git User's Manual] has a more
  27in-depth introduction.
  28
  29After you mastered the basic concepts, you can come back to this
  30page to learn what commands Git offers.  You can learn more about
  31individual Git commands with "git help command".  linkgit:gitcli[7]
  32manual page gives you an overview of the command-line command syntax.
  33
  34Formatted and hyperlinked version of the latest Git documentation
  35can be viewed at `http://git-htmldocs.googlecode.com/git/git.html`.
  36
  37ifdef::stalenotes[]
  38[NOTE]
  39============
  40
  41You are reading the documentation for the latest (possibly
  42unreleased) version of Git, that is available from the 'master'
  43branch of the `git.git` repository.
  44Documentation for older releases are available here:
  45
  46* link:v2.5.3/git.html[documentation for release 2.5.3]
  47
  48* release notes for
  49  link:RelNotes/2.5.3.txt[2.5.3],
  50  link:RelNotes/2.5.2.txt[2.5.2],
  51  link:RelNotes/2.5.1.txt[2.5.1],
  52  link:RelNotes/2.5.0.txt[2.5].
  53
  54* link:v2.4.10/git.html[documentation for release 2.4.10]
  55
  56* release notes for
  57  link:RelNotes/2.4.10.txt[2.4.10],
  58  link:RelNotes/2.4.9.txt[2.4.9],
  59  link:RelNotes/2.4.8.txt[2.4.8],
  60  link:RelNotes/2.4.7.txt[2.4.7],
  61  link:RelNotes/2.4.6.txt[2.4.6],
  62  link:RelNotes/2.4.5.txt[2.4.5],
  63  link:RelNotes/2.4.4.txt[2.4.4],
  64  link:RelNotes/2.4.3.txt[2.4.3],
  65  link:RelNotes/2.4.2.txt[2.4.2],
  66  link:RelNotes/2.4.1.txt[2.4.1],
  67  link:RelNotes/2.4.0.txt[2.4].
  68
  69* link:v2.3.10/git.html[documentation for release 2.3.10]
  70
  71* release notes for
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  73  link:RelNotes/2.3.9.txt[2.3.9],
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  76  link:RelNotes/2.3.6.txt[2.3.6],
  77  link:RelNotes/2.3.5.txt[2.3.5],
  78  link:RelNotes/2.3.4.txt[2.3.4],
  79  link:RelNotes/2.3.3.txt[2.3.3],
  80  link:RelNotes/2.3.2.txt[2.3.2],
  81  link:RelNotes/2.3.1.txt[2.3.1],
  82  link:RelNotes/2.3.0.txt[2.3].
  83
  84* link:v2.2.3/git.html[documentation for release 2.2.3]
  85
  86* release notes for
  87  link:RelNotes/2.2.3.txt[2.2.3],
  88  link:RelNotes/2.2.2.txt[2.2.2],
  89  link:RelNotes/2.2.1.txt[2.2.1],
  90  link:RelNotes/2.2.0.txt[2.2].
  91
  92* link:v2.1.4/git.html[documentation for release 2.1.4]
  93
  94* release notes for
  95  link:RelNotes/2.1.4.txt[2.1.4],
  96  link:RelNotes/2.1.3.txt[2.1.3],
  97  link:RelNotes/2.1.2.txt[2.1.2],
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 423  link:RelNotes/1.5.3.7.txt[1.5.3.7],
 424  link:RelNotes/1.5.3.6.txt[1.5.3.6],
 425  link:RelNotes/1.5.3.5.txt[1.5.3.5],
 426  link:RelNotes/1.5.3.4.txt[1.5.3.4],
 427  link:RelNotes/1.5.3.3.txt[1.5.3.3],
 428  link:RelNotes/1.5.3.2.txt[1.5.3.2],
 429  link:RelNotes/1.5.3.1.txt[1.5.3.1],
 430  link:RelNotes/1.5.3.txt[1.5.3].
 431
 432* link:v1.5.2.5/git.html[documentation for release 1.5.2.5]
 433
 434* release notes for
 435  link:RelNotes/1.5.2.5.txt[1.5.2.5],
 436  link:RelNotes/1.5.2.4.txt[1.5.2.4],
 437  link:RelNotes/1.5.2.3.txt[1.5.2.3],
 438  link:RelNotes/1.5.2.2.txt[1.5.2.2],
 439  link:RelNotes/1.5.2.1.txt[1.5.2.1],
 440  link:RelNotes/1.5.2.txt[1.5.2].
 441
 442* link:v1.5.1.6/git.html[documentation for release 1.5.1.6]
 443
 444* release notes for
 445  link:RelNotes/1.5.1.6.txt[1.5.1.6],
 446  link:RelNotes/1.5.1.5.txt[1.5.1.5],
 447  link:RelNotes/1.5.1.4.txt[1.5.1.4],
 448  link:RelNotes/1.5.1.3.txt[1.5.1.3],
 449  link:RelNotes/1.5.1.2.txt[1.5.1.2],
 450  link:RelNotes/1.5.1.1.txt[1.5.1.1],
 451  link:RelNotes/1.5.1.txt[1.5.1].
 452
 453* link:v1.5.0.7/git.html[documentation for release 1.5.0.7]
 454
 455* release notes for
 456  link:RelNotes/1.5.0.7.txt[1.5.0.7],
 457  link:RelNotes/1.5.0.6.txt[1.5.0.6],
 458  link:RelNotes/1.5.0.5.txt[1.5.0.5],
 459  link:RelNotes/1.5.0.3.txt[1.5.0.3],
 460  link:RelNotes/1.5.0.2.txt[1.5.0.2],
 461  link:RelNotes/1.5.0.1.txt[1.5.0.1],
 462  link:RelNotes/1.5.0.txt[1.5.0].
 463
 464* documentation for release link:v1.4.4.4/git.html[1.4.4.4],
 465  link:v1.3.3/git.html[1.3.3],
 466  link:v1.2.6/git.html[1.2.6],
 467  link:v1.0.13/git.html[1.0.13].
 468
 469============
 470
 471endif::stalenotes[]
 472
 473OPTIONS
 474-------
 475--version::
 476        Prints the Git suite version that the 'git' program came from.
 477
 478--help::
 479        Prints the synopsis and a list of the most commonly used
 480        commands. If the option '--all' or '-a' is given then all
 481        available commands are printed. If a Git command is named this
 482        option will bring up the manual page for that command.
 483+
 484Other options are available to control how the manual page is
 485displayed. See linkgit:git-help[1] for more information,
 486because `git --help ...` is converted internally into `git
 487help ...`.
 488
 489-C <path>::
 490        Run as if git was started in '<path>' instead of the current working
 491        directory.  When multiple `-C` options are given, each subsequent
 492        non-absolute `-C <path>` is interpreted relative to the preceding `-C
 493        <path>`.
 494+
 495This option affects options that expect path name like `--git-dir` and
 496`--work-tree` in that their interpretations of the path names would be
 497made relative to the working directory caused by the `-C` option. For
 498example the following invocations are equivalent:
 499
 500    git --git-dir=a.git --work-tree=b -C c status
 501    git --git-dir=c/a.git --work-tree=c/b status
 502
 503-c <name>=<value>::
 504        Pass a configuration parameter to the command. The value
 505        given will override values from configuration files.
 506        The <name> is expected in the same format as listed by
 507        'git config' (subkeys separated by dots).
 508+
 509Note that omitting the `=` in `git -c foo.bar ...` is allowed and sets
 510`foo.bar` to the boolean true value (just like `[foo]bar` would in a
 511config file). Including the equals but with an empty value (like `git -c
 512foo.bar= ...`) sets `foo.bar` to the empty string.
 513
 514--exec-path[=<path>]::
 515        Path to wherever your core Git programs are installed.
 516        This can also be controlled by setting the GIT_EXEC_PATH
 517        environment variable. If no path is given, 'git' will print
 518        the current setting and then exit.
 519
 520--html-path::
 521        Print the path, without trailing slash, where Git's HTML
 522        documentation is installed and exit.
 523
 524--man-path::
 525        Print the manpath (see `man(1)`) for the man pages for
 526        this version of Git and exit.
 527
 528--info-path::
 529        Print the path where the Info files documenting this
 530        version of Git are installed and exit.
 531
 532-p::
 533--paginate::
 534        Pipe all output into 'less' (or if set, $PAGER) if standard
 535        output is a terminal.  This overrides the `pager.<cmd>`
 536        configuration options (see the "Configuration Mechanism" section
 537        below).
 538
 539--no-pager::
 540        Do not pipe Git output into a pager.
 541
 542--git-dir=<path>::
 543        Set the path to the repository. This can also be controlled by
 544        setting the GIT_DIR environment variable. It can be an absolute
 545        path or relative path to current working directory.
 546
 547--work-tree=<path>::
 548        Set the path to the working tree. It can be an absolute path
 549        or a path relative to the current working directory.
 550        This can also be controlled by setting the GIT_WORK_TREE
 551        environment variable and the core.worktree configuration
 552        variable (see core.worktree in linkgit:git-config[1] for a
 553        more detailed discussion).
 554
 555--namespace=<path>::
 556        Set the Git namespace.  See linkgit:gitnamespaces[7] for more
 557        details.  Equivalent to setting the `GIT_NAMESPACE` environment
 558        variable.
 559
 560--bare::
 561        Treat the repository as a bare repository.  If GIT_DIR
 562        environment is not set, it is set to the current working
 563        directory.
 564
 565--no-replace-objects::
 566        Do not use replacement refs to replace Git objects. See
 567        linkgit:git-replace[1] for more information.
 568
 569--literal-pathspecs::
 570        Treat pathspecs literally (i.e. no globbing, no pathspec magic).
 571        This is equivalent to setting the `GIT_LITERAL_PATHSPECS` environment
 572        variable to `1`.
 573
 574--glob-pathspecs::
 575        Add "glob" magic to all pathspec. This is equivalent to setting
 576        the `GIT_GLOB_PATHSPECS` environment variable to `1`. Disabling
 577        globbing on individual pathspecs can be done using pathspec
 578        magic ":(literal)"
 579
 580--noglob-pathspecs::
 581        Add "literal" magic to all pathspec. This is equivalent to setting
 582        the `GIT_NOGLOB_PATHSPECS` environment variable to `1`. Enabling
 583        globbing on individual pathspecs can be done using pathspec
 584        magic ":(glob)"
 585
 586--icase-pathspecs::
 587        Add "icase" magic to all pathspec. This is equivalent to setting
 588        the `GIT_ICASE_PATHSPECS` environment variable to `1`.
 589
 590GIT COMMANDS
 591------------
 592
 593We divide Git into high level ("porcelain") commands and low level
 594("plumbing") commands.
 595
 596High-level commands (porcelain)
 597-------------------------------
 598
 599We separate the porcelain commands into the main commands and some
 600ancillary user utilities.
 601
 602Main porcelain commands
 603~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 604
 605include::cmds-mainporcelain.txt[]
 606
 607Ancillary Commands
 608~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 609Manipulators:
 610
 611include::cmds-ancillarymanipulators.txt[]
 612
 613Interrogators:
 614
 615include::cmds-ancillaryinterrogators.txt[]
 616
 617
 618Interacting with Others
 619~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 620
 621These commands are to interact with foreign SCM and with other
 622people via patch over e-mail.
 623
 624include::cmds-foreignscminterface.txt[]
 625
 626
 627Low-level commands (plumbing)
 628-----------------------------
 629
 630Although Git includes its
 631own porcelain layer, its low-level commands are sufficient to support
 632development of alternative porcelains.  Developers of such porcelains
 633might start by reading about linkgit:git-update-index[1] and
 634linkgit:git-read-tree[1].
 635
 636The interface (input, output, set of options and the semantics)
 637to these low-level commands are meant to be a lot more stable
 638than Porcelain level commands, because these commands are
 639primarily for scripted use.  The interface to Porcelain commands
 640on the other hand are subject to change in order to improve the
 641end user experience.
 642
 643The following description divides
 644the low-level commands into commands that manipulate objects (in
 645the repository, index, and working tree), commands that interrogate and
 646compare objects, and commands that move objects and references between
 647repositories.
 648
 649
 650Manipulation commands
 651~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 652
 653include::cmds-plumbingmanipulators.txt[]
 654
 655
 656Interrogation commands
 657~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 658
 659include::cmds-plumbinginterrogators.txt[]
 660
 661In general, the interrogate commands do not touch the files in
 662the working tree.
 663
 664
 665Synching repositories
 666~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 667
 668include::cmds-synchingrepositories.txt[]
 669
 670The following are helper commands used by the above; end users
 671typically do not use them directly.
 672
 673include::cmds-synchelpers.txt[]
 674
 675
 676Internal helper commands
 677~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 678
 679These are internal helper commands used by other commands; end
 680users typically do not use them directly.
 681
 682include::cmds-purehelpers.txt[]
 683
 684
 685Configuration Mechanism
 686-----------------------
 687
 688Git uses a simple text format to store customizations that are per
 689repository and are per user.  Such a configuration file may look
 690like this:
 691
 692------------
 693#
 694# A '#' or ';' character indicates a comment.
 695#
 696
 697; core variables
 698[core]
 699        ; Don't trust file modes
 700        filemode = false
 701
 702; user identity
 703[user]
 704        name = "Junio C Hamano"
 705        email = "gitster@pobox.com"
 706
 707------------
 708
 709Various commands read from the configuration file and adjust
 710their operation accordingly.  See linkgit:git-config[1] for a
 711list and more details about the configuration mechanism.
 712
 713
 714Identifier Terminology
 715----------------------
 716<object>::
 717        Indicates the object name for any type of object.
 718
 719<blob>::
 720        Indicates a blob object name.
 721
 722<tree>::
 723        Indicates a tree object name.
 724
 725<commit>::
 726        Indicates a commit object name.
 727
 728<tree-ish>::
 729        Indicates a tree, commit or tag object name.  A
 730        command that takes a <tree-ish> argument ultimately wants to
 731        operate on a <tree> object but automatically dereferences
 732        <commit> and <tag> objects that point at a <tree>.
 733
 734<commit-ish>::
 735        Indicates a commit or tag object name.  A
 736        command that takes a <commit-ish> argument ultimately wants to
 737        operate on a <commit> object but automatically dereferences
 738        <tag> objects that point at a <commit>.
 739
 740<type>::
 741        Indicates that an object type is required.
 742        Currently one of: `blob`, `tree`, `commit`, or `tag`.
 743
 744<file>::
 745        Indicates a filename - almost always relative to the
 746        root of the tree structure `GIT_INDEX_FILE` describes.
 747
 748Symbolic Identifiers
 749--------------------
 750Any Git command accepting any <object> can also use the following
 751symbolic notation:
 752
 753HEAD::
 754        indicates the head of the current branch.
 755
 756<tag>::
 757        a valid tag 'name'
 758        (i.e. a `refs/tags/<tag>` reference).
 759
 760<head>::
 761        a valid head 'name'
 762        (i.e. a `refs/heads/<head>` reference).
 763
 764For a more complete list of ways to spell object names, see
 765"SPECIFYING REVISIONS" section in linkgit:gitrevisions[7].
 766
 767
 768File/Directory Structure
 769------------------------
 770
 771Please see the linkgit:gitrepository-layout[5] document.
 772
 773Read linkgit:githooks[5] for more details about each hook.
 774
 775Higher level SCMs may provide and manage additional information in the
 776`$GIT_DIR`.
 777
 778
 779Terminology
 780-----------
 781Please see linkgit:gitglossary[7].
 782
 783
 784Environment Variables
 785---------------------
 786Various Git commands use the following environment variables:
 787
 788The Git Repository
 789~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 790These environment variables apply to 'all' core Git commands. Nb: it
 791is worth noting that they may be used/overridden by SCMS sitting above
 792Git so take care if using a foreign front-end.
 793
 794'GIT_INDEX_FILE'::
 795        This environment allows the specification of an alternate
 796        index file. If not specified, the default of `$GIT_DIR/index`
 797        is used.
 798
 799'GIT_INDEX_VERSION'::
 800        This environment variable allows the specification of an index
 801        version for new repositories.  It won't affect existing index
 802        files.  By default index file version 2 or 3 is used. See
 803        linkgit:git-update-index[1] for more information.
 804
 805'GIT_OBJECT_DIRECTORY'::
 806        If the object storage directory is specified via this
 807        environment variable then the sha1 directories are created
 808        underneath - otherwise the default `$GIT_DIR/objects`
 809        directory is used.
 810
 811'GIT_ALTERNATE_OBJECT_DIRECTORIES'::
 812        Due to the immutable nature of Git objects, old objects can be
 813        archived into shared, read-only directories. This variable
 814        specifies a ":" separated (on Windows ";" separated) list
 815        of Git object directories which can be used to search for Git
 816        objects. New objects will not be written to these directories.
 817
 818'GIT_DIR'::
 819        If the 'GIT_DIR' environment variable is set then it
 820        specifies a path to use instead of the default `.git`
 821        for the base of the repository.
 822        The '--git-dir' command-line option also sets this value.
 823
 824'GIT_WORK_TREE'::
 825        Set the path to the root of the working tree.
 826        This can also be controlled by the '--work-tree' command-line
 827        option and the core.worktree configuration variable.
 828
 829'GIT_NAMESPACE'::
 830        Set the Git namespace; see linkgit:gitnamespaces[7] for details.
 831        The '--namespace' command-line option also sets this value.
 832
 833'GIT_CEILING_DIRECTORIES'::
 834        This should be a colon-separated list of absolute paths.  If
 835        set, it is a list of directories that Git should not chdir up
 836        into while looking for a repository directory (useful for
 837        excluding slow-loading network directories).  It will not
 838        exclude the current working directory or a GIT_DIR set on the
 839        command line or in the environment.  Normally, Git has to read
 840        the entries in this list and resolve any symlink that
 841        might be present in order to compare them with the current
 842        directory.  However, if even this access is slow, you
 843        can add an empty entry to the list to tell Git that the
 844        subsequent entries are not symlinks and needn't be resolved;
 845        e.g.,
 846        'GIT_CEILING_DIRECTORIES=/maybe/symlink::/very/slow/non/symlink'.
 847
 848'GIT_DISCOVERY_ACROSS_FILESYSTEM'::
 849        When run in a directory that does not have ".git" repository
 850        directory, Git tries to find such a directory in the parent
 851        directories to find the top of the working tree, but by default it
 852        does not cross filesystem boundaries.  This environment variable
 853        can be set to true to tell Git not to stop at filesystem
 854        boundaries.  Like 'GIT_CEILING_DIRECTORIES', this will not affect
 855        an explicit repository directory set via 'GIT_DIR' or on the
 856        command line.
 857
 858'GIT_COMMON_DIR'::
 859        If this variable is set to a path, non-worktree files that are
 860        normally in $GIT_DIR will be taken from this path
 861        instead. Worktree-specific files such as HEAD or index are
 862        taken from $GIT_DIR. See linkgit:gitrepository-layout[5] and
 863        linkgit:git-worktree[1] for
 864        details. This variable has lower precedence than other path
 865        variables such as GIT_INDEX_FILE, GIT_OBJECT_DIRECTORY...
 866
 867Git Commits
 868~~~~~~~~~~~
 869'GIT_AUTHOR_NAME'::
 870'GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL'::
 871'GIT_AUTHOR_DATE'::
 872'GIT_COMMITTER_NAME'::
 873'GIT_COMMITTER_EMAIL'::
 874'GIT_COMMITTER_DATE'::
 875'EMAIL'::
 876        see linkgit:git-commit-tree[1]
 877
 878Git Diffs
 879~~~~~~~~~
 880'GIT_DIFF_OPTS'::
 881        Only valid setting is "--unified=??" or "-u??" to set the
 882        number of context lines shown when a unified diff is created.
 883        This takes precedence over any "-U" or "--unified" option
 884        value passed on the Git diff command line.
 885
 886'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF'::
 887        When the environment variable 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' is set, the
 888        program named by it is called, instead of the diff invocation
 889        described above.  For a path that is added, removed, or modified,
 890        'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' is called with 7 parameters:
 891
 892        path old-file old-hex old-mode new-file new-hex new-mode
 893+
 894where:
 895
 896        <old|new>-file:: are files GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF can use to read the
 897                         contents of <old|new>,
 898        <old|new>-hex:: are the 40-hexdigit SHA-1 hashes,
 899        <old|new>-mode:: are the octal representation of the file modes.
 900+
 901The file parameters can point at the user's working file
 902(e.g. `new-file` in "git-diff-files"), `/dev/null` (e.g. `old-file`
 903when a new file is added), or a temporary file (e.g. `old-file` in the
 904index).  'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' should not worry about unlinking the
 905temporary file --- it is removed when 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' exits.
 906+
 907For a path that is unmerged, 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' is called with 1
 908parameter, <path>.
 909+
 910For each path 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' is called, two environment variables,
 911'GIT_DIFF_PATH_COUNTER' and 'GIT_DIFF_PATH_TOTAL' are set.
 912
 913'GIT_DIFF_PATH_COUNTER'::
 914        A 1-based counter incremented by one for every path.
 915
 916'GIT_DIFF_PATH_TOTAL'::
 917        The total number of paths.
 918
 919other
 920~~~~~
 921'GIT_MERGE_VERBOSITY'::
 922        A number controlling the amount of output shown by
 923        the recursive merge strategy.  Overrides merge.verbosity.
 924        See linkgit:git-merge[1]
 925
 926'GIT_PAGER'::
 927        This environment variable overrides `$PAGER`. If it is set
 928        to an empty string or to the value "cat", Git will not launch
 929        a pager.  See also the `core.pager` option in
 930        linkgit:git-config[1].
 931
 932'GIT_EDITOR'::
 933        This environment variable overrides `$EDITOR` and `$VISUAL`.
 934        It is used by several Git commands when, on interactive mode,
 935        an editor is to be launched. See also linkgit:git-var[1]
 936        and the `core.editor` option in linkgit:git-config[1].
 937
 938'GIT_SSH'::
 939'GIT_SSH_COMMAND'::
 940        If either of these environment variables is set then 'git fetch'
 941        and 'git push' will use the specified command instead of 'ssh'
 942        when they need to connect to a remote system.
 943        The command will be given exactly two or four arguments: the
 944        'username@host' (or just 'host') from the URL and the shell
 945        command to execute on that remote system, optionally preceded by
 946        '-p' (literally) and the 'port' from the URL when it specifies
 947        something other than the default SSH port.
 948+
 949`$GIT_SSH_COMMAND` takes precedence over `$GIT_SSH`, and is interpreted
 950by the shell, which allows additional arguments to be included.
 951`$GIT_SSH` on the other hand must be just the path to a program
 952(which can be a wrapper shell script, if additional arguments are
 953needed).
 954+
 955Usually it is easier to configure any desired options through your
 956personal `.ssh/config` file.  Please consult your ssh documentation
 957for further details.
 958
 959'GIT_ASKPASS'::
 960        If this environment variable is set, then Git commands which need to
 961        acquire passwords or passphrases (e.g. for HTTP or IMAP authentication)
 962        will call this program with a suitable prompt as command-line argument
 963        and read the password from its STDOUT. See also the 'core.askPass'
 964        option in linkgit:git-config[1].
 965
 966'GIT_TERMINAL_PROMPT'::
 967        If this environment variable is set to `0`, git will not prompt
 968        on the terminal (e.g., when asking for HTTP authentication).
 969
 970'GIT_CONFIG_NOSYSTEM'::
 971        Whether to skip reading settings from the system-wide
 972        `$(prefix)/etc/gitconfig` file.  This environment variable can
 973        be used along with `$HOME` and `$XDG_CONFIG_HOME` to create a
 974        predictable environment for a picky script, or you can set it
 975        temporarily to avoid using a buggy `/etc/gitconfig` file while
 976        waiting for someone with sufficient permissions to fix it.
 977
 978'GIT_FLUSH'::
 979        If this environment variable is set to "1", then commands such
 980        as 'git blame' (in incremental mode), 'git rev-list', 'git log',
 981        'git check-attr' and 'git check-ignore' will
 982        force a flush of the output stream after each record have been
 983        flushed. If this
 984        variable is set to "0", the output of these commands will be done
 985        using completely buffered I/O.   If this environment variable is
 986        not set, Git will choose buffered or record-oriented flushing
 987        based on whether stdout appears to be redirected to a file or not.
 988
 989'GIT_TRACE'::
 990        Enables general trace messages, e.g. alias expansion, built-in
 991        command execution and external command execution.
 992+
 993If this variable is set to "1", "2" or "true" (comparison
 994is case insensitive), trace messages will be printed to
 995stderr.
 996+
 997If the variable is set to an integer value greater than 2
 998and lower than 10 (strictly) then Git will interpret this
 999value as an open file descriptor and will try to write the
1000trace messages into this file descriptor.
1001+
1002Alternatively, if the variable is set to an absolute path
1003(starting with a '/' character), Git will interpret this
1004as a file path and will try to write the trace messages
1005into it.
1006+
1007Unsetting the variable, or setting it to empty, "0" or
1008"false" (case insensitive) disables trace messages.
1009
1010'GIT_TRACE_PACK_ACCESS'::
1011        Enables trace messages for all accesses to any packs. For each
1012        access, the pack file name and an offset in the pack is
1013        recorded. This may be helpful for troubleshooting some
1014        pack-related performance problems.
1015        See 'GIT_TRACE' for available trace output options.
1016
1017'GIT_TRACE_PACKET'::
1018        Enables trace messages for all packets coming in or out of a
1019        given program. This can help with debugging object negotiation
1020        or other protocol issues. Tracing is turned off at a packet
1021        starting with "PACK".
1022        See 'GIT_TRACE' for available trace output options.
1023
1024'GIT_TRACE_PERFORMANCE'::
1025        Enables performance related trace messages, e.g. total execution
1026        time of each Git command.
1027        See 'GIT_TRACE' for available trace output options.
1028
1029'GIT_TRACE_SETUP'::
1030        Enables trace messages printing the .git, working tree and current
1031        working directory after Git has completed its setup phase.
1032        See 'GIT_TRACE' for available trace output options.
1033
1034'GIT_TRACE_SHALLOW'::
1035        Enables trace messages that can help debugging fetching /
1036        cloning of shallow repositories.
1037        See 'GIT_TRACE' for available trace output options.
1038
1039GIT_LITERAL_PATHSPECS::
1040        Setting this variable to `1` will cause Git to treat all
1041        pathspecs literally, rather than as glob patterns. For example,
1042        running `GIT_LITERAL_PATHSPECS=1 git log -- '*.c'` will search
1043        for commits that touch the path `*.c`, not any paths that the
1044        glob `*.c` matches. You might want this if you are feeding
1045        literal paths to Git (e.g., paths previously given to you by
1046        `git ls-tree`, `--raw` diff output, etc).
1047
1048GIT_GLOB_PATHSPECS::
1049        Setting this variable to `1` will cause Git to treat all
1050        pathspecs as glob patterns (aka "glob" magic).
1051
1052GIT_NOGLOB_PATHSPECS::
1053        Setting this variable to `1` will cause Git to treat all
1054        pathspecs as literal (aka "literal" magic).
1055
1056GIT_ICASE_PATHSPECS::
1057        Setting this variable to `1` will cause Git to treat all
1058        pathspecs as case-insensitive.
1059
1060'GIT_REFLOG_ACTION'::
1061        When a ref is updated, reflog entries are created to keep
1062        track of the reason why the ref was updated (which is
1063        typically the name of the high-level command that updated
1064        the ref), in addition to the old and new values of the ref.
1065        A scripted Porcelain command can use set_reflog_action
1066        helper function in `git-sh-setup` to set its name to this
1067        variable when it is invoked as the top level command by the
1068        end user, to be recorded in the body of the reflog.
1069
1070`GIT_REF_PARANOIA`::
1071        If set to `1`, include broken or badly named refs when iterating
1072        over lists of refs. In a normal, non-corrupted repository, this
1073        does nothing. However, enabling it may help git to detect and
1074        abort some operations in the presence of broken refs. Git sets
1075        this variable automatically when performing destructive
1076        operations like linkgit:git-prune[1]. You should not need to set
1077        it yourself unless you want to be paranoid about making sure
1078        an operation has touched every ref (e.g., because you are
1079        cloning a repository to make a backup).
1080
1081`GIT_ALLOW_PROTOCOL`::
1082        If set, provide a colon-separated list of protocols which are
1083        allowed to be used with fetch/push/clone. This is useful to
1084        restrict recursive submodule initialization from an untrusted
1085        repository. Any protocol not mentioned will be disallowed (i.e.,
1086        this is a whitelist, not a blacklist). If the variable is not
1087        set at all, all protocols are enabled.  The protocol names
1088        currently used by git are:
1089
1090          - `file`: any local file-based path (including `file://` URLs,
1091            or local paths)
1092
1093          - `git`: the anonymous git protocol over a direct TCP
1094            connection (or proxy, if configured)
1095
1096          - `ssh`: git over ssh (including `host:path` syntax,
1097            `git+ssh://`, etc).
1098
1099          - `rsync`: git over rsync
1100
1101          - `http`: git over http, both "smart http" and "dumb http".
1102            Note that this does _not_ include `https`; if you want both,
1103            you should specify both as `http:https`.
1104
1105          - any external helpers are named by their protocol (e.g., use
1106            `hg` to allow the `git-remote-hg` helper)
1107
1108
1109Discussion[[Discussion]]
1110------------------------
1111
1112More detail on the following is available from the
1113link:user-manual.html#git-concepts[Git concepts chapter of the
1114user-manual] and linkgit:gitcore-tutorial[7].
1115
1116A Git project normally consists of a working directory with a ".git"
1117subdirectory at the top level.  The .git directory contains, among other
1118things, a compressed object database representing the complete history
1119of the project, an "index" file which links that history to the current
1120contents of the working tree, and named pointers into that history such
1121as tags and branch heads.
1122
1123The object database contains objects of three main types: blobs, which
1124hold file data; trees, which point to blobs and other trees to build up
1125directory hierarchies; and commits, which each reference a single tree
1126and some number of parent commits.
1127
1128The commit, equivalent to what other systems call a "changeset" or
1129"version", represents a step in the project's history, and each parent
1130represents an immediately preceding step.  Commits with more than one
1131parent represent merges of independent lines of development.
1132
1133All objects are named by the SHA-1 hash of their contents, normally
1134written as a string of 40 hex digits.  Such names are globally unique.
1135The entire history leading up to a commit can be vouched for by signing
1136just that commit.  A fourth object type, the tag, is provided for this
1137purpose.
1138
1139When first created, objects are stored in individual files, but for
1140efficiency may later be compressed together into "pack files".
1141
1142Named pointers called refs mark interesting points in history.  A ref
1143may contain the SHA-1 name of an object or the name of another ref.  Refs
1144with names beginning `ref/head/` contain the SHA-1 name of the most
1145recent commit (or "head") of a branch under development.  SHA-1 names of
1146tags of interest are stored under `ref/tags/`.  A special ref named
1147`HEAD` contains the name of the currently checked-out branch.
1148
1149The index file is initialized with a list of all paths and, for each
1150path, a blob object and a set of attributes.  The blob object represents
1151the contents of the file as of the head of the current branch.  The
1152attributes (last modified time, size, etc.) are taken from the
1153corresponding file in the working tree.  Subsequent changes to the
1154working tree can be found by comparing these attributes.  The index may
1155be updated with new content, and new commits may be created from the
1156content stored in the index.
1157
1158The index is also capable of storing multiple entries (called "stages")
1159for a given pathname.  These stages are used to hold the various
1160unmerged version of a file when a merge is in progress.
1161
1162FURTHER DOCUMENTATION
1163---------------------
1164
1165See the references in the "description" section to get started
1166using Git.  The following is probably more detail than necessary
1167for a first-time user.
1168
1169The link:user-manual.html#git-concepts[Git concepts chapter of the
1170user-manual] and linkgit:gitcore-tutorial[7] both provide
1171introductions to the underlying Git architecture.
1172
1173See linkgit:gitworkflows[7] for an overview of recommended workflows.
1174
1175See also the link:howto-index.html[howto] documents for some useful
1176examples.
1177
1178The internals are documented in the
1179link:technical/api-index.html[Git API documentation].
1180
1181Users migrating from CVS may also want to
1182read linkgit:gitcvs-migration[7].
1183
1184
1185Authors
1186-------
1187Git was started by Linus Torvalds, and is currently maintained by Junio
1188C Hamano. Numerous contributions have come from the Git mailing list
1189<git@vger.kernel.org>.  http://www.openhub.net/p/git/contributors/summary
1190gives you a more complete list of contributors.
1191
1192If you have a clone of git.git itself, the
1193output of linkgit:git-shortlog[1] and linkgit:git-blame[1] can show you
1194the authors for specific parts of the project.
1195
1196Reporting Bugs
1197--------------
1198
1199Report bugs to the Git mailing list <git@vger.kernel.org> where the
1200development and maintenance is primarily done.  You do not have to be
1201subscribed to the list to send a message there.
1202
1203SEE ALSO
1204--------
1205linkgit:gittutorial[7], linkgit:gittutorial-2[7],
1206linkgit:giteveryday[7], linkgit:gitcvs-migration[7],
1207linkgit:gitglossary[7], linkgit:gitcore-tutorial[7],
1208linkgit:gitcli[7], link:user-manual.html[The Git User's Manual],
1209linkgit:gitworkflows[7]
1210
1211GIT
1212---
1213Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite